Thursday, April 10: Moondog Matinee

Le Voyeur

What Moondog Matinee lack in innovation they make up for in execution. Though their professed influences are a staggering assembly of just about every musical touchstone of the past 50 years (Talking Heads, the Band, Nick Cave, the White Stripes, Arcade Fire, and Edith Piaf [of all people], just to name a fraction of them), it's clear that they mostly take their cues from heavy blues, approached with an admirable widescreen expansiveness. A more accurate comparison could be found in the early work of Band of Horses, with their grandiose take on Americana, and their histrionic vocals. Similar to their fellow Nevadans, the Killers, Moondog Matinee are dramatic to the point of obsession. Left-field dips into swirling psychedelia are unexpected and welcome turns from Moondog Matinee.